Simple Strategies for Planting Small Seeds

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Do you have trouble properly spacing the small seeds of carrots, radishes or lettuce? It's easy to end up with half the package in one short row. This is a waste of seed and time spent thinning.

Reduce this problem by mixing small seeds with sand, vermiculite or other fine material. The sand gives you more material to work with while separating the seeds for better spacing. Sprinkle the sand and seed mixture into a shallow furrow. Cover, water, and gently tamp.

Or try mixing radish and carrot seeds together. Plant this mixture in a shallow furrow in the garden. The radishes will germinate quickly marking the row for the slower germinating carrot seeds. As you harvest the radishes - you open up space for the carrots to grow to full size.

Proper spacing at planting means less thinning for you, more space for plants to reach their full potential, and a bigger harvest to enjoy.

A bit more information:Seed tapes are designed to make planting small seeds easier. The seeds are "glued" to a tape. Just roll out the tape into the planting furrow, cover with soil, tamp and water. You can make your own tapes using strips of newspaper or paper towels for the base. Then create a seed "glue" of cornstarch or flour. Combine about 1 cup of flour with water (about 1/4 cup) until the mixture reaches a consistency of pancake batter. This "seed-glue" is dabbed on the paper at the proper spacing for the chosen seed. Next, place the seeds on the flour-glue and allow them to dry in place. Once the strip is planted, the glue will dissolve, paper decompose, and seeds sprout at the proper spacing